Welcome to the Green Touch Hub community network, the first multimedia platform created for the hands-on individuals, craftsmen and industry innovators who grow, beautify and maintain the greenscape of our amazing planet!

Strong Oaks Woodshop – Front Royal, VirginiaMike Schmiedicke was a normal guy with a white-collar job for many years. Doing web programming and database development meant he sat at a desk and stared at a computer day in and day out. But when he came home, he went into his garage and he built things. “It was my therapy,” Mike said. “My wife and I had a deal. She would bring me a kids’ catalog with a learning tower or rocking horse in it and ask me to make it. Once I did, I could spend that money we saved on my collection of carpentry tools instead.”Back in 2001, starting a wood shop out of a hobby was nothing more than a hope and a dream – but the seeds of an idea had already begun. Mike came up with a plan to gradually transition from web development into woodworking full-time. In 2008, he started selling things on Etsy – he was actually one of the first furniture makers to ut...

Agricultural Aid from… Robots?Robotics offer promising new innovations that are making waves in agriculture and landscaping industries. Farmers and greenhouse owners are using robotic innovations to help with labor shortages, maximize production, and save money. Take a look at popular crowd founding websites for a glimpse at what the future holds.Picking and Harvesting ProduceThese robots use vacuums to pick apples, and are able to gently remove them from trees in large quantities.A firm called Abundant Robotics is building a robotic apple picker with the help of a $10 million investment from GV (formerly Google Ventures). Here is a YouTube video showing their robot vacuuming apples off trees.In an article for Tech Crunch, CEO Dan Steere explained: “It’s very difficult to locate fruit that’s ready to be picked within a canopy and then retrieve it without turning it into apple sauce.” Yet, tha...

Landscaping and cutting-edge fashion have something in common.They can both put organic textiles to use and create beautiful, useful, and eco-friendly consumer options. There are so many uses for biodegradable materials, including fabric, eco-friendly shoes, home decorations, and even compost piles. It is worth researching a few common (and uncommon) textiles and their benefits. Whether you are into greenscapes that are free of weeds, or looking to reduce your carbon footprint starting at home, organic materials can be an invaluable help!What Are Organic Textiles?Essentially, these textiles have been produced without the use of harmful toxins, like herbicides and pesticides, or genetically modified organisms (GMOs). As with food, many people choose organically-sourced over inorganic fabrics because they improve quality of living. For example, who would not want to swaddle their newborn in a 100% non-to...

By now, most
everyone is familiar with the concept of crowdfunding, and many have probably
backed innovative or quirky products that caught their eye after a viral marketing
video popped up on their newsfeed. There is no doubt that crowdfunding is an
exciting new way of turning ideas into reality. But for green industries such
as horticulture, agriculture, and environmental sustainability, crowdfunding
may very well be altering them entirely by giving them a more prominent place
in online culture.The crowdfunding market is predicted to
hit $90 billion in volume by 2020, according to Industry Leaders Magazine. Thousands
of products and ideas that might otherwise have never seen success are being
brought to fruition by crowdfunding campaigns. But crowdfunding is not a
financial slam dunk. A successful crowdfunding campaign involves hours of work,
an excellent marketing team, target audiences, and excit...

The next time you listen to your favorite song, thank
a tree! Many popular musical instruments
are made out of wood – and it is not as simple as just grabbing any old piece
of wood off the forest floor and carving it.There are countless resources detailing how wood is
chosen for musical instruments. It is truly an in-depth scientific process that
involves math and physics to discover what sound the wood will produce. Suffice
it to say, it is not light reading! If
you love math and physics, there is truly an unlimited potential for delving
into their relationship with wooden instruments. One mathematical explanation for discovering
the elastic
properties (the
stiffness) of a material is called Young’s
Modulus, which has endless
uses,
not the least of which can be helpful when making a musical instrument. The American Journal of Botany has a fascinating abstract
in its October...